The present invention relates to a processing agent for silver halide color photographic sensitive materials (hereinafter referred to merely as "photosensitive material") and a method for processing a color photographic material with the same. In particular, the present invention relates to a powdery bleach-fixing composition.
A silver halide color photographic sensitive material is processed, after exposure, by steps of color development, desilverization, washing with water, stabilization and the like. A color developer is used for the color development; a bleaching solution, bleach-fixing solution and fixing solution are used for the desilverization; city water or ion-exchanged water is used for washing with water; and a stabilizer is used for the stabilization. These processing solutions are usually controlled at a temperature of 30.degree. to 40.degree. C. and the photosensitive material is processed by immersing it in these processing solutions.
Since the capacities of these processing solutions are deteriorated after the processes or with the time period, they are exchanged with fresh ones by replenishment or batchwise method.
Therefore, it is required of the users to prepare the processing solutions prior to the processes. Even though many of the chemicals used for the preparation of the processing solutions are in solid form, they tend to react with each other to form undesirable reaction products when they are brought into contact with each other. Therefore, the users cannot get them in the form of a mixture.
Thus when the chemicals are reactive with each other, they are packed separately and given to the users, thereby increasing the costs of the package and transportation. Another problem is that users not skilled in the art might make a mistake in blending the chemicals.
Under these circumstances, the components of the processing solutions are parted from each other to prevent the reaction and the concentrates of them are given to the users so that only the dilution is required of the users.
For example, bleach-fixing solutions usually used comprises two concentrate parts, i.e. a part containing a bleaching agent and another part containing a fixing agent.
However, even though the concentrates are used, they are put in separate containers and therefore, they have not yet been made sufficiently compact.
Although the parts are in the form of the concentrates, they are yet liquids which necessitate dissolution step in the production of them to make the production process complicated. Further, problems are posed in the transportation, since they are in liquid form. In addition, precipitates are formed in the concentrates during the transportation and the redissolution of them is often difficult.
In European Patent Publication No. 196,551A and Japanese Patent Unexamined Published Application (hereinafter referred to as J. P. KOKAI) No. Hei 4-19655, it is proposed to use a powder composition and laminate the powder composition in layers. This intends to solve the disadvantage in the liquid form by use of powder composition and to stabilize it by forming a laminate comprising layers each containing grains of a constituent of the processing agent and an inert layer interposed between them so that the constituents reactive with each other will not react, the laminate being vacuum-packed.
However, these methods have problems in that the vacuum-packing is indispensable during the preparation to extremeIy increase the production cost and that the thiosulfate powder cakes to form a hard mass thereby making it difficult even to take out from the package.
J. P. KOKAI No. Hei 3-39735 discloses a fixing composition or bleach-fixing composition produced by mixing a thiosulfate and a pyrosulfite and granulating the resultant mixture. This technique also has problems in that the granulation is indispensable for preventing the lumping of the thiosulfate powder, thereby extremely increasing the production cost and that since the prevention of the thiosulfate from caking is insufficient, the granules cake when a high load is applied at a high temperatrue of 30.degree. to 40.degree. C. to make the practical use difficult. In addition, when the granulated composition is dissolved in water, it sometimes involves the production of smell due to sulfer dioxide ans the like.